Monday, May 22, 2017

It's funny, when we first looked at our house with our realtor, Ernesto was totally underwhelmed. What is going on with this place? Little windows on the front, traditional kitchen remodel, original bathrooms with "upgraded" granite and horrible light fixtures. All those things stuck out to me as well, but my mind started racing immediately to all of the things we could do to improve the mix matched style.

We decided to go for it though because it was UNIQUE and although not exactly what we THOUGHT we wanted, it was a good size house, in the location we were after AND fit the "mid century modern" criteria we had been hunting for. (built in 1963)

It wasn't until MONTHS after we moved into the house that we discovered what style it was. We knew it was a POST AND BEAM...because, that was obvious from the ...wait for it...post and beams.

BUT! I literally stumbled upon a house that looked like ours while searching Google images and found out it is called a DECK HOUSE which was designed and built by a company called....wait for it again...Deck House, Inc.

A ‘Deck House’ is a pre-fabricated Mid-Century house developed in 1959 by two architects who studied under Walter Gropius (founder of the Bauhaus) at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. They formed the Deck House Company in Acton, Massachusetts, where it still operates, now called the Acorn Deck House Company.Deck Houses were/are widely popular, but more so in the northeast, not Georgia. The architectural basis for a Deck House is post and beam construction, which uses large and solid timbers to hold up the roof. These eliminate the need for supporting walls and allows for an almost unlimited amount of glass. How cool is that? Renovations should be easy then right?

Ceilings are exposed Douglas fir beams and tongue-and-groove vaulted ceilings. (Sadly ours were painted) The exterior could've been stained at one point as well....which I LOVE!

Many of the deck houses I have seen have a front carport or a side deck off the kitchen/dining area.

Like most mid-century modern homes, the goal of the deck house is essentially combining form and function. With all the glass, deck houses are almost always used in a natural setting.
It feels very exciting to now know what our house could (and SHOULD) look like. I even found a FB page called "Deck House Owners" and they have let me in even though it's quite possible that our house was not actually BUILT by Deck House Inc. (I called the company, and they could not verify by our address but said "that doesn't mean we didn't build it because there were many houses built in the 60's that we don't have records for.")

A "deck house" has become an all encompassing name for this style of house (like kleenex for tissues) Our house is definitely in this style, though, and honestly I don't care WHO built it, I am just happy to have been enlightened about our homes' history.

My mind is in overdrive after looking at other Deck Houses (inside and out). But that is the case with me and houses. Inspiration and ideas are always flowing.

More importantly, Ernesto's inspiration has been sparked and he is excited to make changes and possibly sit back and enjoy this house for longer than he initially thought. ("2 years and we sell" is what he was saying when we moved in)

As you can see with the other houses pictured here, the windows are not aluminum single pane. (notice the dark ones above) And hopefully sometime this Summer, ours will not be either. I love how many of the houses have different sized windows on one side of the front door than the other (I have always loved asymmetrical design.)

Also note they all have transom windows above the doors. Yep. We are going to follow suit with that too. I can't wait. How awesome is this entry??

So much to share with you in the upcoming months/years.

New exterior paint color choices are being mulled over. We were considering these two colors and I posted on Insta for opinions. It was about half for Tricorn Black and half for Urbane Bronze.

We have pulled some other samples since this photo and are leaning towards SW Sealskin which looks like black/the darkest brown.

Also, a front patio is in the beginning stages...I'll have a separate post with our "plan" soon.
One of the front landscaping beds is ALMOST complete.

All this (and more!) coming to you right here on VivaCindy.....right after we spend a month in San Diego this June!!!! Woot woot!

Monday, May 15, 2017

Guys, It has been a while since I showed you any of my SCORES! If you follow me on Instagram you have seen some, but I thought I would pull them all together here. These have all been acquired while living in our "new" house (how long can you call it a new house anyway?).

Not everything has an official spot yet, but the hoarder in me had to grab now and place later. Is that how you do it? Or do you shop for a specific piece knowing exactly where you will put it??

This first score happened right after moving. Four barstools. And guess what? We don't even have a bar in our kitchen. LOL BUT WE WILL!! So I hoard until that day comes.

This deal doesn't come along too often, so I had to.
4 vintage Milo Baughman BRASS cantilevered bar stools. BRASS!! They are in very great condition, I might add. (minus the horrible fabric, but that is an easy diy) These things can be priced quite ridiculously.

Here they are at CB2. These are not vintage but the Mack Stool is the exact same style for $299 each!

Wait, wait, wait....How about paying almost $5k for four on 1st Dibs?? That is just ridiculous!

(1st Dibs is always ridiculous expensive - it is for people who want cool-ass vintage pieces and have no monetary restrictions - or Craiglisting skills for that matter. Who knows maybe they have never even heard of Craigslist?)

Whenever I find a deal, I go to 1st Dibs to make myself REALLY feel good.

Are you ready to hear how much I paid for mine???
Drumroll please..............

$10 EACH!!! LOLOLOLOLOL oh the LUCK!

Sorry 1st Dibs, I am going to stick to my search and find methods.

Take a guess how much I paid for a brass chest from Sarreid of Spain.....

Mine needs some serious polishing but potentially will look like the shinny one above and I scored it for only $200 !!!!!

How about $3200 for a BIG set of embossed brass deer??

Or $50 on Facebook Marketplace - Have you used this resource? There is usually a lot of crap to wade through.....but ....BRASS DEER!!

Yeah, these babies are perfect flanking a burning fire!

Annnnd...Since we are talking brass animals, let me tell you a sob story.

I found a set of HUGE brass giraffes on Craigslist. Like 4 and 3 foot HUGE. I was dying. I had to have them. The guy was asking a bargain price of $200, which is great, but being the bargainer that I am, he agreed to $180. He lived 40-50 minutes north of Atlanta, but said he was passing through Atlanta on his way to Florida the next day. What a deal and almost no hassle!

Well, the next day, you know what happened? I was raking my yard and missed his call. I missed him by 10 minutes and he would not pick up his phone. He left me a voicemail saying "I guess the giraffes are going to FL" I was frantic. NOOOOOOOOOOO!! WAIT! STOP!

I MAY have sent him five a couple text messages that portrayed me as a crazy-brass-obsessed girl.

Also, this is one of those times that you DON'T want to look at 1st Dibs...cry cry cry

$4,000. FOUR THOUSAND!!!!!! UGH.

This was hard to get over. BUT! Just like in a relationship, the best way to forget about someone is to find someone else. Ha!

Enter The. Brass. Herons

I mean who would pay $1,200 for these huge brass Herons....??

...when you could find them on Asheville Craigslist for $40 (bargained down to $30)??

And mine are better. Look at the big bases! They need a little shining, but aren't these 1970's Herons going to be AWESOME in front of my 1960's house, positioned just so in our new landscaping?? Can you see it?? CAN YOU?? What. A. Score!! Possibly one of my best!

One recent sale (found on estatesales.net) had a cool mcm house JAMMED full of ART from a renowned Atlanta painter. I was able to pick up a few portraits that spoke to me. Im not sure WHY they spoke to me, but they did. And now here they are, sitting. Waiting patiently to be hung.

Sooooooo back in August, my brother texted me from a thrift store in Wooster Ohio.

Him: "Is this mid century modern?

Me: OMG! That is gorgeous! Are the handles brass?

Him: Yes.

Me: How much is it?

Him: $249 for two night stands, tallboy, credenza with large mirror.

Me: WHAT? I MUST have that. Im going to buy it right now.

Him: You're nuts."

And that is what I did. I called up Friendtique in Wooster Ohio and bought it over the phone. I had to wait 6 months to get it delivered, but it worked out fine.

(on a side note: I'm probably not going to use Paul's Shuttle anymore for furniture. The service to and from the airport has always been fast, friendly and efficient, but it's somethin' different hauling long distances. Plus he told me he doesn't want my business anymore.)

I split up the set. Credenza in the living room and tallboy/nightstands in the bedroom.

I LOVE them so much. I shined them up with Wax-N-Feed and they are beautiful!!

Also, in the picture above is a rug I got off Craigslist. It is nice, but Im not in love with it. I wanted a more tribal design..and maybe a little more black than red. hmm

The HUGE vintage oil painting was scored in Asheville last year but we had to leave it there with my brother for a while. Ernesto actually really liked it, too mostly because it is the Hotel Del Coronado, an old famous hotel in San Diego.

Remember my Craigslisted bed that I had re-built/recovered/tufted last year?

Well, I wasn't into it anymore. It was a monstrous STURDY bed, but from day one I was not happy with the tufting. Also, the footboard drove me nuts-it didn't go with the headboard. Turns out, I wished that I had not altered the original shell shape of this beauty. (#designregrets) Oh well. It just didn't fit in my new house "plan" anyway (right, like there is one, but..)

I wanted something more...simple and streamlined.

When a perfect replacement turned up on Craigslist, I put the "old" one up for sale the next day.

Luckily the blue bed was an easy sell on NextDoor, and this beauty (that looks identical to the $1000 Acorn bed at West Elm, by the way) was picked up by my sweet husband for just $100!!!!

I am looooooooving the wood grain.

And it looks super nice next to our dark teal wall.

Are you still there? Want to see another score?

I found a pair of these parsons ottomans at the same thrift store as the above bedroom set. (in Ohio)

Unfortunately they did not make it on Paul's Shuttle to Atlanta and are still sitting in my parents basement.

I loved the square-ness of these but I do NOT love the fabric. (It's not the flame stitch so much as the green and pink together)

I envision these beauties in this fabric.

Right? Right??

ANNNNNND.....Just for shits and giggles, let's take a look at a pair of these on 1st Dibs.

Oh that is so satisfying, isn't it? (ridiculous as that price is ha)

I'll try and do more of these posts since I am ALWAYS finding deals.
Which do you think is my best score??? Do you even like ANYTHING that I posted?? LOL
Oh well, to each his own. I love what I love and hopefully once all these things are arranged in my house, you will see too that they are AWESOME!!!

Wednesday, May 03, 2017

When you turned 18 months, I thought, "she is not saying much" but It is crazy mami, in the last couple weeks you have started spitting out words! ( I will compile for next month!)

You say "OH" for "No" and firmly let us no you don't approve by shaking your finger back and forth.

You love to jump and you are climbing on everything. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be just as daring as your hermanos.

You are a good sleeper, but you've been cutting some HUGE molars and it has woken you up at night. You don't want anything but one minute of comfort chi-chi and you are back to sleep.

Oh yes. You still love/want chi-chi and I don't see any signs of that waning. Your mami actually doesn't mind at all, but I do see a struggle in the near future. I have a "loose" goal to wean you this next month [before we head out to San Diego] but sometimes I think....Why do today what you can do tomorrow? I don't like setting myself up for failure, so I will set our ABSOLUTE cut off at 2 years. LOL

You have the sweetest personality and the cutest pucker queuing everyone its time to kiss.
Te quiero mucho.
mami

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MEET CINDY

I'm a wife and mother to three small kids. I'm a jewelry designer and a decorator/DIYer enthusiast turning my builder boring house into a home I love. I'm addicted to Craigslist, thrifting & yard sales, I'm passionate about gardening and travel and I can't live without coffee and black licorice. Oh! and I'm obsessed with gold! Take a peek into the world of Cindy.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream." -Mark Twain "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there" - George Harrison"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent in the ideas of living."